Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

Getting in shape doesn’t just happen.

No one wakes up one day and realizes all of their fat dropped off, they’re incredibly strong, and their body added muscle in all the right places.

It takes serious work, dedication, and planning.

It takes a lot of effort to go to the gym day after day after day. However, most people who do aren’t actually following a plan. They show up, throw some weights around, and call it a day. (Or even worse, they go, get on a treadmill, and think that’s good enough.)

Every time I fuck around in the gym, I rarely see any results. Sure, it feels good. Sure, it reduces stress, but anyone who wants results needs some kind of plan.

I have people ask me all the time, “How do I get abs / bigger arms / bigger booty?!” And I ask them what plan they’re following. Then they come back with, “I don’t know, I just go and do a few moves I saw on Instagram a few times a week.”

Well, that’s not a plan.

Today is Tuesday and I would bet most people have already thrown in the towel for the week. Their Monday was busier than planned so they swear, “NEXT WEEK!”

(Pro tip: Monday is always busy as shit. Prepare for this.)

Here’s how I plan my weeks for domination even though life is a never-ending shit-storm most of the time:

1. Look at your whole week.

Scripting my week has been one of the fundamental habits that changed my results in both the gym and in life.

Every Sunday, I sit down and put in what Stephen Covey calls, the big rocks.

The big rocks are essentially the MOST important thing to your life, not the little things that get in the way of your goals.

You need to own a planner of some kind, period. I prefer paper planners instead of digital planners, but do what works for you. Even if you use something as simple as a sheet of blank paper for your planning, it’s better than nothing.

2. Plan out your exercise schedule for the week.

Write out what days and at what times you are going to go to the gym.

I used to write down that I wanted to work out four or five times the week. Except days would tick by and I still didn’t stay consistent.

When I put in dates and times I will be in the gym, I rarely ever miss. Commit to a time and put it in your planner. Treat it like a doctor’s appointment. SHOW UP.

If you have a workout buddy, agree on a set schedule or time. If not, pretend you did. Pretend someone important to you is waiting at the gym and you need to show up.

3. Plan out meals and supplements.

This was really the game changer for results. It’s easy to forget your diet, when you’re supposed to eat, when you’re supposed to take your supplements… but if you have dedicated time to each one, you need to put it down.

I have a cork board right behind my computer with my supplement schedule clearly written out for each week. It’s the only way I could manage it all.

4. Prepare as much as you can ahead of time.

Cook meals ahead of time. Clean your gym clothes. Leave your workout shoes in your car. Make sure you have an extra pair of headphones in your car.

People who want to win at life are always prepared ahead of time. They don’t mess around because they want results.

When you have a plan, you know you’ll need to skip those cookies in the middle of the day because you already brought yourself a much healthier snack.

Preparing in advance ruins any excuses for failure. People love failure, they love excuses, they love to blame everything else but themselves for their problems.

“Oops, I forgot my workout shoes! I guess I’ll work out next month instead.”

You’re going to be better than that.

Don’t fall into the blame game, take responsibility for your success.

The path to success isn’t sexy. It’s not glamorous. It’s hard fucking work day in and day out and day in and day out.

Preparing your life in advance gives you all the room in the world to make your goals come true. When you’re prepared, you’re going to win. You think all the athletes who just played in the Super Bowl just fell into that situation? Hell no. They prepared and trained for years. They do the hard work without thinking about it.

Planning in advance removes all the stressful thoughts about, “What do I do now?” Instead, do the thinking ahead of time so you can move into autopilot mode.

Studies show time and time again that we only have so much willpower in any given day, when you reduce decisions, you increase the amount of willpower you have.

What do YOU do to plan and dominate the week?

2016 Fitness Goals

Not everyone is into goal setting, but it’s something I’ve always liked to do with the start of the year. I’m not as big on New Years Resolutions because I think it’s more important to look at the entire year instead of promising you’re going to change all of your habits overnight.

Also, just to note, these are more themes for the year than concrete goals. I don’t have any PR’s I want to hit, goal weights, or timed miles. I just want more of these things in my life overall.

If you want a deeper look into a goal setting and planning routine, Click here.

By setting yearly goals, I can see what I need to accomplish throughout each month to get there.

These are my fitness goals for the year (my business goals and personal goals are in a whole different category), but hopefully putting them in writing will force me to stay accountable. I’ll also be doing either quarterly or monthly updates to make sure I knock all of these out of the park.

1. Increased endurance.

Yes, I know this isn’t a specific goal, but I generally want to increase my cardiovascular endurance so when I’m hiking and swimming all summer I won’t feel like my lungs are dying.

All throughout high school I played lacrosse and after that ended I stopped doing a lot of cardio. I’m honestly not a fan of cardio, but if I want to hold my own all summer, it’s necessary.

2. Only two-hour computer periods.

One of the worst fitness mistakes I make is sitting at this damn computer for far too long. These giant chunks of metal rule so much of our lives now, and every time I do work binges I feel my body start to ache.

Sitting is not good, and I don’t like standing desks either. So, I’m simply going to combat this with walking away from this thing every two hours and doing something else for a few minutes; mainly stretching.

3. Fitness classes

I want to get involved in some kind of competitive environment again. Whether it’s boxing, martial arts, adult lacrosse leagues, or something else, I need to get in an environment where I’m challenged in a new way. I want to sign up for a few things this year and see what I enjoy.

It’s enjoyable to get roughed up as well. No, I don’t mean in a 50 Shades kind of way, I mean in a competitive way. Some of my favorite memories from high school involved pushing girls around in lacrosse.

(Note: Please do not suggest Crossfit. I hold nothing against Crossfit, I just want to do something that doesn’t involve weights because I already spend all kinds of time around weights and in a gym.)

4. Consistency.

If anything, I just want to stay consistent with my fitness this year. No months off, selective cheat meals, marching through all kinds of new programs, consistent content for this blog and my YouTube channel.

Nothing in the world beats being consistent. That’s how everything great in life happens. It’s not flashy, it’s not sexy, but it’s the one thing that separates the people who really want something from the ones who don’t, and I really fucking want it.

I have a huge calendar where I mark off the days I am consistent in all the areas that matter, and all I want is for it to be full of check marks.

5. Go on a vacation and focus on balance.

I just looked at my planners and realized I haven’t been on a vacation where I get to lay on a beach and not give any shits for a solid week in over 11 years. Yes, 11 years. All of my vacations since then have been busy vacations with no actual down time and constant movement.

I just need a break. Whether I schedule one mini vacation every three months or a huge vacation, I am not sure yet, but it will be happening.

Workaholism is a problem I constantly deal with, and I’m going to force myself to actually balance this year, or else I’m going to burn out.

This overall goal/theme includes stretching daily, actually doing physical rehabilitation to fix imbalances, and getting enough sleep.

Hustle is great and I know I can get more done without working 17 hours a day like I have for 5+ years now if I concentrate on the select few things that matter.

That’s it for the year. What are YOUR goals / themes for the year?

The ONLY Key to Success

It’s easy to beat yourself up when you fall off the wagon.

You fail on that diet because pizza is delicious.
You skip the gym because it’s cold.
You declare “Next Monday!”

The answer must be within the newest, shiniest thing you want, right? Nope.

The best plans and gear in the world don’t count for anything if you can’t follow through.

The problem is, there’s no new plan or diet that will give you what you really need to succeed: Consistency.

Yes, excitement is important and doing something you actually enjoy doing is important. However, if you don’t stay consistent all the bells and whistles in the world won’t matter.

As of today, there are only 73 days left in the year.

Some people use that as an excuse to wait until 2016 to start working toward the things they want.

If you really want something, the time to start is now. 73 days is a long time. It’s enough to change your body, change your finances, change your career, or change your entire life. That’s 1,168 hours (assuming you sleep 8 hours every night) to work with.

The reason I preach so much about habit and character development is because I saw that my clients who simply showed up every single day were the ones to crush their goals.

One of the best things I was ever told is:

Only take advice from people who have what you want.

This is why I’ve been studying people who are successful in all the areas I want to have.

So what’s the one trait they all have?

They show up every single day, whether they feel like it or not.

That’s it. It isn’t the shoes, the cars, the money, or any other circumstance. They simply commit to doing the one thing that matters the most every single day.

I’m currently reading Ronda Rousey’s book, and quote hit home:

My mom always says that to be the best in the world, you have to be good enough to win on a bad day because you never know if the Olympics are going to fall on a bad day. (pg. 71)

Most of us will never compete in the Olympics, but the message still applies. Even on our worst days, we need to be able to get the important things done.

That’s what separates the winners from everyone else. That’s what puts people in the category from just dreaming about something to making it happen.

The only way to make sure you smash 2016 is to start to build the habits now so they’re automatic by the time the clock strikes midnight.

It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently. – Tony Robbins

Now is not the time to cry over 2015, to wish you had done something different, to quit before the year is over.

Plan for your bad days so you can smash through them.

That’s how you become a champion.

5 Tips for Eating Healthy on A Budget

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“Healthy food is so expensive!”

We’ve all heard that or been guilty of saying that, haven’t we?

The thing is, it’s not always true.

People look at stores like Whole Foods, a store that recently got in trouble for overcharging customers, and think they can’t afford to eat well.

Sure, Ramen is insanely cheap, but have you seen the price of things like McDonald’s recently? In 2005, a Big Mac was $3.06 and in 2012 it was $4.45. Are they insane?

(Also, I know, I know, economics/inflation, etc., but roll with my point.)

That doesn’t mean eating healthy is always cheap, either. However, there are tricks here and there to eating well and also saving money.

Here are 5 of my favorite tips right now:

  1. Ripe vegetables and fruit.

There are quite a few stores here in my city that offer discounted fruits and veggies (even organic!) when they’re fully ripe and only have a limited amount of shelf days left.

Instead of throwing them away, there are a few stores that discount them to get rid of them. People are so weird when they hear this because they think it means it’s like moldy and full of bugs or something. It’s just ripe. Chill, weirdos.

2. Specialty stores.

I just discovered this secret recently, but I am OBSESSED with small, specialty grocery stores. I have spent a ridiculous amount of money at this Asian market just a few blocks from my house.

Compared to the bigger stores, this small store has rice for a FOURTH of the price. I eat an insane amount of rice, so I am in all kinds of heaven. They also have boxes that contain hundreds of tea bags for just $3. IT IS HEAVEN.

Don’t be scared to try stores that you haven’t been in before.

3. Buying in bulk.

When most people think of bulk, they only think of stores like Costco. While I’m wildly in love with Costco, I also have learned that a lot of stores sell items in HUGE quantities through their online options. Which leads to point #4:

4. Online shopping.

You guys, there is SO MUCH cheap, healthy food online. There are so many stores that want to get customers hooked on their online shopping option that discounts are basically everywhere. Plus, having food delivered is awesome, let’s keep it real.

5. Meals that make a lot of servings.

Going back to my earlier point, I love rice. I have a rice cooker that pretty much makes everything heaven. Cooking a whole batch makes about five meals for the next few days.

Any healthy meal options that are just single serving is a quick way to blow through your food budget if you need to save money.

 

Excuses are for suckers. Don’t let expensive food get in the way of your goals. Hack the system and make it happen.

Why You Should Dominate Fitness First

In the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, the first chapter discusses at length why it is important to focus on your circle of control.

The circle of control are the few things in life you have complete and full control over: your actions.

You can’t control the weather.
You can’t control the news.
You can’t control other people.
You can’t control your boss.

The only thing you can control is you and your actions.

This is why anyone who wants to change their lives should focus on health first. You have full control over what you eat as well as when you work out.

Exerting yourself each day toward a healthier life gives you back control of your life.

Every day we wake up with new decisions to make. Every day we have the choice to choose better. If you feel crushing doubt or worry, that’s because you feel like life is happening to you instead of you happening to life.

Psychologists agree that the number one contributing factor to happiness is, “The feeling that your life – its activities and habits – are self-chosen and self-endorsed.”

When you have control over your life, you feel happier. Everyone wants to claim that fitness and making healthier choices is hard, but it’s not. What’s hard is worrying about things you can’t control and can’t do a damn thing to change. That will wear your soul in ways that simply working out never will.

While you can’t wake up one day and have control over your entire life, if you start with the easiest areas to control, you might find that every other area of your life falls together as well.

Here are some ideas to start:

  • Remove all soda from your diet
  • Commit to eating another cup of vegetables with dinner
  • Start riding a bike to work instead of driving
  • Eat eggs instead of sugary muffins for breakfast
  • Bring a protein shake to work
  • Start a muscle building program
  • Stretch every evening before you go to bed

Simple, small actions can mean all the difference in your day to day life.

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